This invention relates to an image processing method and the apparatus thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus in which object data, in the form of polygons corresponding to the surface shape of an object, is obtained to reconstruct the original image.
The image processing method and apparatus thereof available in the prior art, in which an object data approximating the surface shape of object is generated, by first generating 2-dimensional range image data according to the surface shape of the object viewed from a given perspective and then arranging a field of polygons, each of which is the same size, onto a 2-dimensional range image data grid.
Further, there is another image processing method and apparatus thereof available in the prior art using radial range image data, which is obtained by scanning the around-shape of an object while either the object or an image detector rotated, instead of the 2-dimensional range image data, in which dots are arranged on a radial range image data grid, in which four neighboring dots represent the apexes of a square, and the squares constructed by drawing straight line between the neighboring dots approximate the surface shape of the object.
However, in the case of making use of 2-dimensional range image data, only the front side of an object can be processed.
In the case of making use of radial range image data, the data is generated by assigning square polygons, each of which is the same size, onto the object. These are translated onto a radial range image data grid, which approximate the surface shape of the object.
Here, there is a problem in that it is impossible to accurately represent the surface shape of an object with a high resolution when the object has a complicated shape, and the number of polygons must be kept low due to data storage restrictions and processing speed.
Too many polygons are required when an accurate approximation with high resolution is sought. Objects with complicated surface shapes become extremely expensive to reproduce (due to the cost of this data storage capability) or extremely time-consuming to reproduce (due to the time required to process this much data).